Elle Beau ❇︎
2 min readMar 11, 2024

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It would really be nice if we had a culture that valued and supported everybody. But, in a patriarchal dominance hierarchy where men have historically had not only cultural but legal privilege until very recently - and still have a lot of cultural centrality and benefits (even if they also have some hardships and challenges), any rhetoric about how women need to care more about men and their problems is likely going to be about as welcome as white folks asking Black people to focus on their needs. Systemically disadvantaged demographics may have some understanding or even sympathy, but are unlikely to prioritize the problems of the socially dominant demographic.

The way masculinity is constructed in this culture IS the enemy of most women. For most women, nearly every bad thing that has ever happened to them comes out of that paradigm of entitlement, control, and violence toward women. That doesn’t mean every single man is the enemy or that every man does that stuff, but until more men start challenging that harmful view of masculinity (which drives violence against other men as well), most women are going to equate that demographic with the abuse, sexual predation, and discrimination they have pervasively faced since they were children. Again, not all white people are racist, but all white people benefit from racism, whether they want to or not. All men benefit from sexism and misogyny whether they want to or not. Unless or until that changes, I wouldn’t expect a lot of active sympathy for what men are dealing with. I think many women feel that men need to go clean up their own house.

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Elle Beau ❇︎
Elle Beau ❇︎

Written by Elle Beau ❇︎

I'm a bitch, I'm a lover, I'm a child, I'm a mother, I'm a sinner, I'm a saint. I do not feel ashamed. I'm your hell, I'm your dream, I'm nothing in between.

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